By HOLDEN LARSON, Staff Writer at The Southerner
the alley is honored to continue highlighting news and articles from The Southerner, newspaper of South High School. This article is reprinted with permission.
The machine shop class at South is scheduled to move to Roosevelt for the start of the new school year next fall. It is a class that a lot of students really enjoy, and it can spark interest in many future careers. Moving a machine shop costs a lot of time and money, and many students are disappointed and confused about why the decision was made to move it to Roosevelt.
The district has a plan to create elective centers, or hubs, at different high schools throughout the city. Roosevelt is planned to be the center of manufacturing because they already have automotive, construction, and welding classes, and the machine shop will be the next new addition to their arsenal of manufacturing electives. If a student from South wants to take machining next year, they will have to take a shuttle to Roosevelt for half of the day due to the 2-hour block schedules utilized at Roosevelt.
Joe Hyser, South’s machining teacher, says these elective centers are kind of an experiment for the district. Hyser says that he is worried that he won’t have as many students at Roosevelt next year. “Here at South, I’m guaranteed [around] 20 students per class. And a diverse class, meaning there are a lot of females too. But when I’m at Roosevelt, it’s going to be strictly elective, meaning whoever chooses to take it takes it, and I’m afraid of my numbers being really low. I’m not confident a lot of people would take the shuttle for half the day.”
Hyser says that he will certainly get students who are more serious and committed to machining as a potential career, but by moving it to Roosevelt, it isn’t as likely to be introduced to new students.
At South, it is an elective, but sometimes electives fill up, and counselors will put people into machine shop. “There are a lot of students who are being introduced to machining who never would’ve before, and that won’t happen next year.” Hyser says that he has been able to introduce many students to vocational trades as a career who may not have considered them before.
Miles Novak, a freshman currently enrolled in machining at South, says that he is disappointed that it is moving to Roosevelt because it is one of his favorite classes. “I wanted to keep taking [machining], but it seems like a big hassle to take the shuttle to Roosevelt every day.” Novak is confused about why the district is putting in so much effort to move the machines to Roosevelt when they are already being thoroughly used and appreciated at South.
It seems that the district is putting in a lot of effort to move the machine shop to Roosevelt when it is already having a greatly positive impact on the students at South. Without a machine shop at South, a lot of students will be left without a great opportunity to learn about engineering. It isn’t feasible for most students to take a shuttle to Roosevelt for half of the day just to take a machining class when most students don’t have other classes they are looking to take at Roosevelt. Moving machining to Roosevelt will prevent a lot of students from being introduced to engineering at a young age, and it isn’t an equitable use of resources to move equipment around just to categorize electives, especially when South has yet to become an elective center for any category.
HOLDEN LARSON is a freshman staff writer in his first year working with The Southerner. Larson joined The Southerner to improve his skills as a writer and contribute to something positive at South. Larson participates in the South jazz band, where he practices guitar and drums every morning.
